Page 24 of Marked Resistance

“Pretty much,” Grim answered. With deadly accuracy, Grim sped to the inside of the village and snatched up the beggar by the throat, as I stepped over the wire. The man never had a chance. Grim's face hardened, his fangs descended and he ripped through the soft tissue in the man’s neck. He drank like a thirsty man crawling through a desert would a cool bottle of water. By the time the rest of us arrived, he had tossed the body to the side like discarded trash and wiped his hands. A silent, gruesome kill. Even though the man was only human, Grim’s flawless execution unnerved me.

“No,” I said. “No. They had to have gone somewhere. We’ll track them and get them.”

“Oi, listen Sweetheart. The deserter either headed to human territory to the east or jumped on one of those boats and headed out to sea. Either way, we’re fucked. Not much left to do except go our separate ways and enjoy life before Command gets wind of our failure. I’m going to look around the village for a bit before I head out. Hope the fucker left something to eat before they split.”

My mouth went dry at the thought. I put the team’s life in danger trying to minimize the danger. My knees went weak and I knew I would collapse at any second when Xavier cleared his throat. Even as my lip trembled, I called to him. “Xavier?”

His cool demeanor remained steadfast and calm. “You’re not lead on this, Grim. She is,” he said and pointed to me.

Grim smirked. “So? What difference does that make? The reality is— “

“We’re fucked,” Ilanis shot.

“Exactly,” Grim agreed. “Best to live while we still can.”

Xavier shifted his balance so he faced me. “What doyouwant to do, Zenobia?”

With Xavier’s eyes locked with mine, a wave of confidence washed over me and the air around me grew warm.

“It doesn’t matter what she wants to do,” Grim said.

“Yes, it does,” I shot back.

“What?” Ilanis said through her teeth.

I squared myself to face both of them. “How many clans are there?”

Grim’s eyebrow raised. “You don’t know?”

“Younglings,” Ilanis laughed.

The air around me grew hot. “I said,howmany clans are there?”

Both Ilanis and Grim’s eyes narrowed. Ilanis cocked her head to the side, while Grim’s muscles tensed.

“Four,” Ilanis answered as she wrinkled her brow.

“Name them,” I ordered.

“Shaye, Corrus, Letos and Disaris,” Grim answered.

“And who leads them?”

“What?”

“Wholeads them?”

“This is ridiculous,” Ilanis scoffed.

“Queen Cassie leads Corrus, Mathias leads Letos, Queen Kiara leads Disaris and Governor Duradel leads Shaye.”

“And which are you?” I asked.

Ilanis tilted her head. “What?”

“I said,whichare you?” I demanded.

“Shaye,” she responded.

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